I’m pleased to announce that the latest edition of Islamic Perspective Journal, Vol. 23, Spring 2020 is now available. It includes my essay “Ethno-apotheosis and Bilderverbot: The Theo-Philosophical Basis for the Current Western Daseinkampf,” a version of which was presented at the 2019 conference “Critical Theory and the Study of Religion: Conference in Honor of Rudolf J. Siebert,” which took place in November of 2019 at Western Michigan University.

On May 7th, Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert, Dr. Michael R. Ott, and I engaged in a discourse with Jeremiah Morelock on the subject of “Exclusive Identity Ideology” for the Critical Theory Research Network. This discourse began as a reflection of Dr. Siebert’s biographical story “The Friendly Jewish Lady of Frankfurt,” and ventured into numerous other issues regarding nationalism, fascism, identity politics, the Alt-Right and the ongoing crisis of capitalism which has exasperated identity politics throughout the West. Videos of the discourse have been uploaded to YouTube by The Critical Theory Research Network. Please enjoy the videos and support the Critical Theory Research Network as well as the work of Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert, Michael R. Ott, and myself, Dustin J. Byrd.

We are planning to publish a co-authored book rooted in this discourse with Ekpyrosis Press

The Critique of Religion and Religion’s Critique: On Dialectical Religiology

In The Critique of Religion and Religion’s Critique: On Dialectical Religiology, Dustin J. Byrd compiles numerous essays honouring the life and work of the Critical Theorist, Rudolf J. Siebert. His “dialectical religiology,” rooted in the critical theory of the Frankfurt School, especially Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Leo Löwenthal, and Jürgen Habermas, is both a theory and method of understanding religion’s critique of modernity and modernity’s critique of religion. Born out of the Enlightenment and its most important thinkers, i.e. Kant, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud, religion is understood to be dialectical in nature. It contains within it both revolutionary and emancipatory elements, but also reactionary and regressive elements, which perpetuate mankind’s continual debasement, enslavement, and oppression. Thus, religion by nature is conflicted within itself and thus stands against itself. Dialectical Religiology attempts to rescue those elements of religion from the dustbin of history and reintroduce them into society via their determinate negation. As such, it attempts to resolve the social, political, theological, and philosophical antagonisms that plague the modern world, in hopes of producing a more peaceful, justice-filled, equal, and reconciled society. The contributors to this book recognize the tremendous contributions of Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert in the fields of philosophy, sociology, history, and theology, and have profited from his long career. This book attempts to honour that life and work.

I’m pleased to announce that the new edition of Islamic Perspective Journal, Vol. 22 Winter 2019, is now available for download. My article, Return of the Volksgemeinschaft: On Islam and European Identity, is included: IPJ22

The Rudolf J. Siebert lecture series entitled “St. Thomas More & American Politics” has been added to the Rudolf J. Siebert Audio-Visual Archive. These lectures were delivered from January to March of 2009, and examine St. Thomas More’s most famous work “Utopia,” and how it relates to the political landscape of 2009, especially the global financial meltdown of neoliberal capitalism, as well as the election of Barack Obama, and the role of religion within these occurrences.

Dr. Rudolf J. Siebert, critical theorist, mentor, and dear friend has retired from teaching at Western Michigan University after 54 years. Since he came to WMU in 1965, he has educated thousands of students throughout the world in the Critical Theory of Religion and Society. Rooted in the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School, as developed by Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Jürgen Habermas, and others, the Critical Theory of Religion and Society continues to view the world through a dialectical lens, as it cross-pollinates other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Critical Theory of Religion and Society is a future-oriented remembrance of human suffering, misery, and oppression, with the practical intent to bring about a more reconciled, peaceful, and justice-filled future society. WMU will honor Dr. Siebert with a conference on November 16th, 2019, entitled “Critical Theory and the Study of Religion: Conference in Honor of Rudolf J. Siebert.” It will be held at the Fetzer Center at WMU and is open to the public.

If you would like to send him a retirement letter, his email is: rudolf.siebert@wmich.edu

Ekpyrosis Press is a new academic press dedicated to publishing books and articles that advance the following three principles:

Know Thyself (γνῶθι σεαυτόν): Ekpyrosis Press is engaged in a rediscovery and revivification of Western thought, rooted in the three seedbed societies: Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. This is especially important in the face of growing nationalism, which seeks to use Western heritage as a weapon against other peoples. The West is strongest when it knows itself; it does not fear others when it does.

Inter-civilizational Discourse: Ekpyrosis Press is dedicated to engaging in robust discourses with other civilizations, including the Muslim World, with the practical intent to lessen misunderstandings, hatred, and war.

The Hopeless (Die Hoffnungslosen): Ekpyrosis Press is dedicated to the defense of the hopeless and the marginalized in Western and Resten societies. Strength does not flow from barbarity, rather it is a feature of solidarity with those who find themselves the victims of the slaughter bench of history.